Sunday, May 29, 2011

Phoebe Nest

Each year, we seem to end up with a Phoebe nest just outside our front door. I enjoy having Phoebes around, but they never seem to fare well this close to the door. I try to discourage the nest building, but there always comes a period of a few days when I leave early every morning and get back after dark every night and when I next see things in the daylight, the birds have thrown together a nest and popped in a couple of eggs. Everything goes well for a while until an abnormally cool night coincides with some type of disturbance on our front porch. The bird flies into the night and the eggs or young succumb to the chill.

Five eggs is about normal. I’ve put nesting platforms at different places around the house and the Phoebes have successfully nested on them. The pair that built this nest had already begun the put eggs in a nest around the corner from the door, so I wasn’t expecting them to start a new nest. When I found this nest, I checked and found that the first clutch had disappeared.

I question the suitability of an aluminum downspout as a nest platform. A chilly rain can cool that aluminum in a hurry and I can’t imagine that being very good on the eggs.

The Phoebe that built this nest was messier than most. There’s mud smeared along the downspout, mud on the wall and look at all the splatters on the soffit above the nest. Normally it’s the female that builds the nest. Maybe the mess is where the male jumped in and tried to help.

We do get a good view from the window. Maybe we can ward off disaster this year and enjoy watching the care of a Phoebe family.

ABOUT BLUE JAY BARRENS

Located in the Bluegrass region of Southern Ohio, Blue Jay Barrens contains excellent xeric habitat inhabited by a wide variety of rare native plant and animal species. Since 1985, this private property has been managed to improve the integrity of the special ecosystems found here. This blog provides information on the current activities at Blue Jay Barrens.

RESPONSE TO COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS BLOG

It’s my intent to share information on current events at Blue Jay Barrens. Unless otherwise noted in the text, all photos were taken by me at Blue Jay Barrens.

Plant scientific names are from Gleason and Cronquist 1991. I realize that some changes in preferred nomenclature have occurred, but this is the principle reference I have been using for flora identification. Knowing this, I believe most people can figure out just what plant I’m talking about.

My discussions of flora and fauna are not intended to be a complete life history. There are plenty of good references for this type of information. I am discussing my personal experiences with plants and animals on this specific property. Any other information I may provide is intended to help you understand the significance of my observations.

MY 3 FAVORITE NATURE BOOKS:

1- Of Mosquitoes, Moths and Mice, by C Brooke Worth.2- Mosquito Safari: A Naturalist in Southern Africa, by C Brooke Worth.3- A Naturalist in Trinidad, by C Brooke Worth.

MY 3 FAVORITE FICTION BOOKS:

1- The Witches of Karres by James H Schmitz2- The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham3- The Windhover Tapes (1st 3 volumes) by Warren Norwood

MY 3 FAVORITE MOVIES:

1- Vanishing Point 1971 with Barry Newman2- Flim Flam Man 1967 with George C Scott - also like the book by Guy Owens3- The Lathe Of Heaven 1979 with Bruce Davison - also like the book by Ursula K LeGuin

MY 3 FAVORITE TV SHOWS:

1- The Prisoner with Patrick McGoohan2- Fawlty Towers with John Cleese3- Kolchak: The Night Stalker with Darren McGavin